I will be taking photos of my son this week, in an large arena which is outside but has a roof over it. Many of the photos I take have a lot of light in the background. It will be during the day when the sun is shining and the background tends to be very bright, but he is in the dark. He will be showing his animals in this arena at our local Fair.

I hope I explained the situation correctly!

I need some advice on the settings of my D70. What is the best way to optimize my photos of him?

Thanks for any advice!

EdGreene

08-11-2006, 01:29 PM

Hi everyone:

I will be taking photos of my son this week, in an large arena which is outside but has a roof over it. Many of the photos I take have a lot of light in the background. It will be during the day when the sun is shining and the background tends to be very bright, but he is in the dark. He will be showing his animals in this arena at our local Fair.

I hope I explained the situation correctly!

I need some advice on the settings of my D70. What is the best way to optimize my photos of him?

Thanks for any advice!Your son will be backlit as you pointed out, which calls for a powerful hot-shoe flash to reduce the contrast. Worse, as I remember, those open "barns" usually have severe sunlight which throws the animal under the roof in shadow, which means you'll have to be and get in close (as possible) to him.
Worse still, usually only the "show" photographer actually gets in close.
*The other caution is a "pro" level SB flash may not be allowed even if spectators can shoot dinky P&Ss from the stands.
Best bet is to catch him outside the arena coming or going, or outside grooming his animal.

Best setting is Shutter priority (1/180th or faster) with the hot shoe flash, indoors or out.

Yankee Rose

08-11-2006, 05:29 PM

Hi and thanks for the reply.

I do have a Nikon SB-24 Speedlight and a Quantaray 70-300mm lense, both of which I used last year and got decent shots.

STUPID QUESTION: a "hot shoe flash" is the same as my speedlight, right?

I guess it will be an experiment again! :) I know so little, but love this camera so much .... always wanting to learn!

Thanks again for your advice, EdGreene. :)

Spot focus

08-12-2006, 05:35 PM

Try and positon yourself with the light behind you. This will stop the backlit problem